This invention is related to flotation mattresses and is more particularly concerned with providing damping means to inhibit wave motion in flotation mattresses that contain a liquid. Liquid-containing flotation mattresses have gained wide acceptance and popularity as bedroom furnishings. Conventional flotation mattresses have been subject to criticism from the consuming public for three main reasons, i.e., excessive weight of the mattress in the liquid-filled condition for use, leakage of liquid from the mattress, and wave propagation within the flotation liquid when a pressure is exerted upon the mattress. The weight problem has been addressed in the prior art by employing liquid displacement aids within the mattress to decrease the amount of liquid necessary to attain the liquid filled condition for use, e.g., see Warner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,669. The leakage problem has been substantially eliminated by the utilization of improved sealing techniques, e.g., Pennington, U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,486; Mollura, U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,819; Lambert, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,327; and modifications in the construction of the mattresses per se, e.g., Benjamin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,634; Lambert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,799; Mollura, U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,172. The other problem, wave propagation and consequent wave motion within the liquid, has remained unsolved in a satisfactory manner despite the wide recognition of the problem within the industry and the commercial realization that the problem impedes acceptance of flotation mattresses by a wide segment of prospective purchasers.
Prior attempts to resolve the wave motion problem have entailed the use of air pocket buffers on the upper and lower periphery of the mattress, e.g., Callenance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,676 and Phillips, U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,995; sheet baffles affixed to the upper and lower sheets of the mattress, e.g., LaBianco, U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,921, and weighted sheet baffles affixed to the upper sheet of the mattress, e.g., Carson Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,604. None of the foregoing attempts to resolve the wave motion phenomenon has achieved success in damping the wave motion quickly enough to avoid discomfort to the user.